Directions for Authors

Please note that the Co-Editors and Executive Editor
of Biometrics do not pre-screen papers for their appropriateness for the
journal. If you are unsure whether or not your paper is suitable, we
ask that you submit it for possible publication. It will be reviewed by
the Co-Editor to whom it is assigned, who will make this determination
quickly. If the paper is deemed to be inappropriate, you will receive a
swift response from the Co-Editor.

If you are unsure whether or not your paper is suitable, you may wish to consider carefully the descriptions of the Sections of Biometrics given below.

TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED:

Authors submitting regular articles, i.e., full
length papers that would be suitable for Biometric Methodology or
Biometric Practice, must indicate in our electronic submission system
for which of these sections they wish their article to be considered
by choosing from the Manuscript Type menu. Authors should select what
they believe to be the most appropriate section. If the Co-Editor
judges a submission to have merit but to be better suited for the
other section, the paper will be reviewed in that context.

Biometric Methodology

The Biometric Methodology section is designed for
papers that focus on the development of new methods and results of use
in the biological sciences. These should where possible be made
accessible to biologists and other subject-matter scientists by the
inclusion of an introductory section outlining the application and
scientific objectives on which the new methods focus, with discussion of
real data or settings that exemplify the issue being addressed. The
journal typically insists on illustration of new methods with real data
wherever possible. Extensive mathematical derivations and proofs should
be removed to an appendix.

Biometric Practice

The Biometric Practice section is designed for the
following types of papers:
(i) They demonstrate innovative applications of existing methods to
areas in which such a method has not been previously employed.
Consequently, substantial new insights or findings are provided.

(ii) They creatively illustrate the proper use of
different methods under various explicit/implicit assumptions.
Consequently, clearer guidance and understanding of the use of different
methods is offered.

(iii) They propose innovative and practical data
analysis strategies, based on a combination of experience, intuition,
and methodological arguments.

(iv) They re-examine from a new perspective
statistical practices that are widely used in biometric applications,
providing useful alternatives to the current standard.

Papers in this section may, but do not need to,
contain new methodology. The key of a successful publication in the
Biometric Practice section is its ability to provide substantial new
insight. This means that the paper must present information that goes
beyond the existing literature in a way that an expert in the relevant
field would regard as significantly eye-opening. Papers consisting
primarily of routine simulation-based comparisons of competing methods
are generally not suitable for the Biometric Practice section.

Reader Reaction

The Reader Reaction section is designed for papers
that refer directly to an article recently published in the journal
(including Early View articles), typically within up to three years of
the original publication date. These papers directly respond to a
previously published article, either (1) by describing important
extensions or improvements to methods developed in the original article;
(2) by offering alternative perspectives; or (3) by raising key issues
left originally unaddressed. There always should be appropriate
justification. In contrast to papers in the Biometric Methodology
or Practice sections, where new methods or ideas may be based on a
compendium of previous work appearing in several outlets, Reader
Reaction papers should be in direct, focused response to the content of a
published Biometrics article. The key to a successful publication
in this section is the demonstration that the work is clearly a direct
reaction to the original article and the provision of important
commentary or additions to the topic addressed in that article.

Letters to the Editors

The Letters to the Editors section welcomes letters
providing short comments in direct response to articles appearing
previously in the journal, typically within two years of publication of
the article. The section also accepts letters relating to general
scientific/editorial matters within the ambit of the journal.

We will not publish letters dealing with journal
format and presentation issues, but readers with comments on such topics
may send them to us for our consideration.

Correction

Corrections are very short notes identifying and correcting substantial errors,
misstatements, or omissions in articles that have already been published in the
print version of the journal, submitted by the author(s). Examples include
corrections to mathematical content, such as typographical errors or incorrect
derivations; additions such as acknowledgements to individuals who played a
major supporting role in the work or to funding agencies not included original
accepted version of the paper; and explanations of and corrections to flaws in
reasoning or interpretation of results. Corrections should be submitted when an
error, misstatement, or omission in a published article is serious enough to
compromise the integrity or correctness of the article or places it in violation
of funding agency requirements.

If an error, misstatement or omission is identified in an article appearing in
Early View (so not yet published in print), the authors should contact the
Editorial Manager at biometrics@tibs.org.

Questions regarding Corrections should be send to the Executive Editor at
biometrics@tibs.org. Examples of
published Corrections can be found in the December 2014 issue.

Manuscripts should be submitted at our ScholarOne
Manuscripts submission site at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/biom.
A portable document format (pdf) file is preferred. Files
containing additional unpublished papers (written by one or more of
the authors) relevant to the submitted paper should also be uploaded
at the time of submission. If such papers are included, the "Cover
Letter" field should include an explanation detailing how the submitted
paper differs from these others.

It is understood that the submitted manuscript is
not identical or similar in substantial part to a paper being handled
by another journal. It is also expected that the submitted manuscript
contains no passage of text or other material that is virtually
identical to that in a publicly-available or published work by
another author(s), unless proper citation to the source is made. The
submitted manuscript will be rejected by Biometrics if these
requirements are violated (more detail on
the Biometrics Policy on Plagiarism and Scientific Misconduct).

Authors are required to indicate the
the section of the journal for which the paper is
intended to be reviewed (see above, types of submissions accepted).
Submission cannot proceed unless a section is chosen from the
Manuscript Type menu.

Papers should be prepared with one-inch margins, in
12-point size letters and no more than 25 lines per page, double-spaced
throughout. A one-paragraph summary should be included, followed by a
list of key words, in alphabetical order.
The summary should not exceed
225 words. The author's name should be followed by a full postal address
and email address. Authors should use the [{( )}] convention in
delimiting equations. To save space, display equations only if
necessary. References should be typed in Biometrics style, and should be
double-spaced throughout. Figures and
tables should be separated from the main text, and placed at the end of
the manuscript. Detailed algebraic derivations should be placed in an
appendix. No footnotes should be used.

Biometrics has a limited number of journal pages.
Normally, newly-submitted Biometric Methodology or Biometric Practice
papers exceeding 25 pages and Reader Reaction papers exceeding 12 pages
in the style described above will be returned to the authors without
review. (These page counts include acknowledgements, references, and
brief appendices, but not tables and figures. The page counts do not
include the title page and abstract.) During the review process, it is
common for Editors to request that papers be shortened, and authors
should be aware that the typical accepted Biometrics paper is usually
considerably shorter than 25 pages. It is also common for Editors to
ask that most appendices be moved to Supplementary Web Materials.
Authors are encouraged to move appendices and other appropriate content
to Supplementary Web Materials at the time of submission in order to
achieve a shorter main paper (the page count applies to the main paper
only and not to Supplementary Materials).

Papers appearing in the journal rarely have more than
six (6) tables or figures combined; about three-fourths have 4 or less.
When papers contain numerous tables and figures, editors will always
ask that the number be reduced or that some tables and figures be moved
to Supplementary Materials. Authors are strongly encouraged to be
judicious in the use of tabular and graphical displays and should not
combine what ought to be several tables or figures into very large
single ones. Authors should also consider moving some tables and
figures to Supplementary Material at the time of submission. Papers
with an extreme number of tables and/or figures may be returned by the
co-editor without review. It is recognized that graphical depictions or
images are essential for conveying the message in some substantive
areas. In such circumstances, more figures than in the typical
submission may be appropriate, and authors should note this explicitly
in a covering letter.

CORRECTIONS: Corrections should be
no more than 2 manuscript pages in the format described above. The title should
be of the form: Correction to "Title of Paper," by Authors; Volume No., xxx-xxx,
Month Year. See the December 2014 issue for examples.

Statistics on time to first review of papers and time to review of revisions can be found under the "Journal Statistics" link.

SOFTWARE AND DATA:

Biometrics strongly encourages authors to include software
implementing proposed methodology with their papers at the time of submission,
such as code implementing simulations or data analyses presented in the paper
or, preferably, more generic software (e.g., a R package or SAS macro).
Co-Editors are likely to ask authors to provide code during the editorial
process, and in many cases, where it is deemed important, the Co-Editor will
make provision of code a condition of acceptance. In this case, authors will be
asked to prepare and include accessible such software with the final versions of
their articles, preferably packaged in a zip archive with a README file
describing the archive contents and providing instructions for use of the
software. Code will be posted as Supplementary Material with the published
paper; see below.

Biometrics also encourages authors to submit data used in their illustrative
examples if at all possible (along with code used for the analysis). Data will
be posted as Supplementary Material with the published paper; see below.

Code and data are not subject to formal review and will be posted "as-is." IBS
will not own copyright of these materials.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS:

Biometrics posts online supplementary material with published
papers. These instructions describe the general policy and guidelines
for supplementary materials. Specific questions regarding supplementary
materials should be sent to
biometrics@tibs.org.

Supplementary material may be submitted by the
authors at the time of submission of a manuscript
by uploading it with
the main paper at our ScholarOne submission site. Before submission,
it is in the interest of authors to consider what material can be
extracted from the main body of the paper and posted on the website. It
is important that authors should retain the readability and integrity
of a paper while implementing this process.

As discussed in detail below, supplementary web
material may include some or all of: additional written exposition,
tables, and figures. All such supplementary material should be placed
in a single document entitled "Web-based Supplementary Materials for
(title of manuscript) by (authors)." This document should then have
sections entitled "Web Appendix A," "Web Appendix B," and so on for
written appendix material (e.g., technical derivations and proofs, see
below); followed by "Web Table 1," "Web Table 2," etc. for supplementary
tables; and "Web Figure 1," etc., for supplementary figures. Web
Tables and Figures should have descriptive captions in the same style as
those for tables and figures included in a main manuscript. Web
Appendices, Tables, and Figures may be referenced in the main manuscript
as, for example, "See Web Appendix A for the derivation of Equation
(1)" or "Web Tables 1-4 present results of additional simulations."

The supplementary material will be regarded as
part of the submission for the review process and may need to be
modified in the same way as the material in the main body of the paper.
Such revisions may be requested during the review process. Authors
should be aware that well thought out, clear and concise web
supplementary materials are likely to speed up the review process,
whereas lengthy, unclear materials could slow down the process.
Accordingly, authors preparing Web Appendices should pay careful
attention to length. Although there is no strict page limit for such
material, excessively long web appendices may be returned by the
Co-Editor for shortening prior to review of the paper. Full tabular
and/or graphical presentation of numerical results from a set of
extensive simulation studies (see below) is acceptable, but authors
should be mindful of excessive length by avoiding reporting of results
over many scenarios where the results and their implications are very
similar.

Supplementary material may also result from a
request by the Co-Editor during the review process. S/he may ask that
some material submitted originally as part of the main manuscript be
extracted and reformulated as supplementary material. This material
would be referenced in the revision of the manuscript as described
above.

Authors whose papers reference supplementary
material should create a section labeled "Supplementary Materials"
immediately prior to the "Acknowledgements" section and include a
statement indicating where these materials may be accessed, as in the
following example:

"Web Appendices, Tables, and Figures (limit to the types of
material actually in question) referenced in Sections (give section numbers) are
available with this paper at the Biometrics website on Wiley Online Library."

It is sufficient to provide this information only
in this section; it should not be provided each time a Web Appendix,
Table, or Figure is referenced in the body of the main paper.

After a paper is accepted, the supplementary material will be published "as is" and will not be subject to copy-editing.

The following are three examples of the type of
supplementary material appropriate for posting on the web. Authors
should consider posting any materials that are relevant, but not
central, to the main development of the paper.

(1) Technical details of mathematical results.

We encourage authors to post on the web in a Web
Appendix technical assumptions, proofs and detailed calculations
involved in their results.

This does not eliminate the possibility of
appendices appearing in the parent paper. Although most technical
appendices will best suited to appear as supplementary material on the
web, short appendices (ordinarily no more than a few paragraphs) may
still be appropriate for inclusion in the main paper. The length of
appendices suitable for inclusion will depend on the overall length of
the main paper.

(2) Results from simulation studies

Detailed descriptions of, and some results from,
simulation studies may be appropriate for posting on the web. Authors
ordinarily might present in the main paper a representative subset of a
larger body of simulation studies and post the remainder as
supplementary web material, providing key summaries and relevant points
from all simulation studies in the main paper. The availability of this
facility can be particularly helpful when faced with difficult choice
of which results to include from extensive simulation studies.
Alternatively, in some circumstances, it may be appropriate for a
written summary of the main implications of simulations to appear in the
paper, with the actual numerical results available as supplementary
material. In either case, the web-based material can be more extensive
than that appearing in a conventional publication.

(3) Figures and Graphs

While it is important that essential figures are
included in the main body of a paper, there may be additional graphs and
figures that support statements made but that are not part of the
central development.

The IBS will own the copyright for all supplementary web-based material described above, as it will for the parent paper.

On acceptance of a paper, authors are encouraged
to submit to Biometrics the data used in their illustrative examples and
also any computer code used in the analysis. If such data and/or code
are provided, authors should include in the Supplementary Materials
section of the main paper a statement like that in the following
example:

"The toenail fungus data analyzed in Section (give section
number) and a SAS macro implementing the new robust method are available with
this paper at the Biometrics website on Wiley Online Library."

Data and code are not subject to review and will be posted "as-is." IBS will not own copyright of these materials.

(4) Software/Code

Authors providing software/code as Supplementary Material should include in the
Supplementary Materials section of the main paper a statement like that in the
following example:

"An R package implementing the new robust method is available with this paper at
the Biometrics website on Wiley Online Library."

(5) Data

Authors providing data used for illustrative analysis as Supplementary Material
should include in the Supplementary Materials section of the main paper a
statement like that in the following example:

"The toenail fungus data analyzed in Section (give section number) and a SAS
macro implementing the new robust method are available with this paper at the
Biometrics website on Wiley Online Library."

Guidelines for Authors When Listing a "Group" in the Author List

As research increasingly is a multidisciplinary
enterprise, situations will arise where papers in Biometrics will report
on methodological developments that were conceived in the context of
research conducted by a formal research group. In this case, the
primary authors of such a paper may list the authors of the papers as
themselves (explicitly) along with the name of the formal research
group; e.g., a standard presentation would be

Author1, Author2, ..., and AuthorN for the XXXXX Study Group

and the goal is to acknowledge the contributions
of members of the research group. Such listings are commonplace in
journals in medicine and other areas where articles report on results of
large cooperative projects.

This sort of listing has not been traditional in
Biometrics nor, more generally, statistics journals. Biometrics
recognizes that there may be situations where such a listing is
warranted. The following are guidelines on how authors should proceed if
they wish to include such an author listing.

(i) Biometrics only allows such an author listing
when the primary authors of the article, who are listed explicitly, make
an acceptable case that there is a genuine reason for listing the group
in the author list and when the group is a formal entity with official
standing. For example, the group may be a cooperative group running a
clinical trial, or a formal group created and sanctioned by a grant or
contract to carry out work in a specific area or on a specific research
project.

If members of the group mainly provided data used
in the article but did not contribute intellectually in a significant
way to the methods development reported, then listing of the group is
not appropriate. If the primary authors feel very strongly that members
of the group played a key intellectual role in the conception of the
methods through substantial interactions taking place in the group, this
may be an acceptable reason. If the group is merely a collection of
individuals who are working together on a research project, this is not
acceptable as a "group."

The primary authors should provide a written
explanation to the Co-Editor handling the paper that (a) provides
evidence that the group is a formal, official entity and (b) states
clearly their reasons for wishing to include a "group" as part of the
author list. The Co-Editor will make the final determination of whether
the listing will be permitted.

(ii) If the Co-Editor agrees that inclusion of the
group in the author list is appropriate, the author listing should
simply state, e.g., "for the XXXX Group." The names of the primary
authors whose names are listed explicitly and their affiliations should
be listed as usual for a Biometrics article. However, there should be
no footnote on "for the XXXX Group" connecting to a listing either at
the bottom of the first page or in the affiliations part of the title
section of the article of members of the groups and their roles. The
explicit listing of names of group members contributing to the article
and their roles should be placed in the Acknowledgements section of the
article.

(iii) Each of the primary authors of the article
will be asked to complete a specialized copyright assignment form that
includes the following additional stipulation:

"In signing this Agreement, you hereby warrant
that in the case of an article acknowledging in the list of authors a
study group or other cooperative body that you have obtained from all
members whose names are listed in the Acknowledgements section of the
Article, in writing, authorization to enter into this Agreement on their
behalf and that all have read and agreed to the terms of this
Agreement."

Please note that the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has
allowed Biometrics authors an exception to their policy of requiring that "for
the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative" appear in the author byline
with a footnote when data from the ADNI database have been used for an
illustrative example. Under these conditions, ADNI has granted permission for
the footnote information to appear in the Acknowledgements section of the
article, along with a brief sentence at the end of the Summary stating that the
data were provided by ADNI. Thus, if your paper uses data from ADNI only for
illustration, please do not include ADNI in the author listing. Rather, please
include the following text in your Acknowledgements section:

"Data used in preparation of this article were obtained from the Alzheimer’s
Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database (adni.loni.usc.edu <http://adni.loni.usc.edu>).
As such, the investigators within the ADNI contributed to the design and
implementation of ADNI and/or provided data but did not participate in analysis
or writing of this report. A complete listing of ADNI investigators can be found
at: http://adni.loni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/how_to_apply/ADNI_Acknowledgement_List.pdf."

along with a statement along the lines of "Data used in preparation of this
article were obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)
database." in your Summary.

If your use of ADNI data is a byproduct of a more substantial collaboration with
ADNI investigators, then the guidelines above should be followed to determine if
ADNI should be listed in the author byline.

NOTES ON THE PREPARATION OF PAPERS:

A current issue may be used as a general guide to style. The following notes summarize some of the principal points.

SUMMARY:

A summary, one paragraph long, should be included
completely summarizing the paper without repeating, verbatim, sentences
from the paper. The summary should not exceed 225 words. Mathematical
symbols should be avoided and any references to previous work should be
given in full.

A list of up to six key words should follow the summary,
typed in alphabetical order using exactly the style and punctuation in a recent
issue. The main purpose of key words is to ensure a paper is identified by
search engines, so please choose key words that are descriptive of and specific
to the content rather than generic (e.g., "model," "inference"). Words/phrases
from the title may be used as long as they are descriptive. Include one key word
that is a high-level descriptor of the broad area in which the work falls, e.g.,
"longitudinal data analysis."

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Acknowledgements should be placed at the end of the text before the references.

REFERENCES:

Citations to references in
journals, books, and other traditionally published materials: Citations to
references in the text should be ordered by author's surname and publication
date. For publications by three authors, all are listed the first time the
reference is cited, and et al. used subsequently. For four or more authors, et
al. is used throughout. In the list of references at the end of the paper,
authors should be listed alphabetically by last name. For references with more
than six (6) authors, only the first six (6) authors should be listed, followed
by "et al." Journal titles should be complete and not abbreviated. A recent
issue should be consulted for the format used for the reference list.

Citations to URLs: Citations to material available on the internet, such
as software packages, databases, technical reports, and articles in online
journals where citation is by URL or digital object identifier (DOI) are
increasingly common. Ordinarily, such references should be included in the list
of references and cited in the text. As much information as possible should be
given. For software, list the name of the package, the date of the version used
if available, the URL, and the date last accessed by the authors; for example

For databases, list the name of the database, the URL, a descriptive phrase or
record locator (such as a data marker or accession number if available),
indicating the part of the database being cited or explaining the nature of the
reference, and an access date; for example

and cite in the text as "we used the XXX data from the Genbank database."

Note that some databases instruct authors to acknowledge the entity maintaining
the database; in Biometrics, this is done in the Acknowledgements section.

In general, authors should include as much information as possible in citing a
URL and should strive to cite only online materials that are likely to be
available over the long term. Please note that Biometrics and the publisher are
not responsible for outdated URLs. Readers will be directed to follow up with an
article's corresponding author for assistance.

Citations to traditional references in journals, books, and other publications
that are also available online should be cited as noted above and not by URL or
DOI.

APPENDICES:

Appendices should be placed after references.

TABLES AND FIGURES:

Tables and figures should represent only essential
material. They should be placed on separate sheets at the end of the
paper after appendices and identified by Arabic numerals and a short
descriptive title. Diagrams or graphs created by common computer
software packages such as SAS, Splus, R,MATLAB,GAUSS, etc. are usually
acceptable, and should be in black on white. The only lines appearing on
a table should be horizontal. No vertical lines are allowed. All
decimals and numbers should be aligned in columns. For printing,
illustrations may be reduced to 1/2 or 1/3 their original dimensions;
therefore, for all types of illustrations, lines should be of sufficient
thickness, and lettering, numbering, decimal points, periods, dots, and
plotting symbols should be large enough to reproduce well and be
legible when reduced in size.

Color figures may be submitted and will appear in color in
the electronic version of the journal. However, figures must conform to the
following guidelines.

Ordinarily, the journal does not print in color. Authors desiring color figures
to appear in the print version of the journal must pay a charge of $350 per page
to cover the additional cost of paper and binding associated with including
color figures.

For authors not opting to pay for color figures, figures will need to be adapted
so that they are interpretable in a black and white presentation, or color
figures may be retained with a sentence included at the end of each color figure
caption, 'This figure appears in color in the electronic version of this
article.' If it is decided to retain the color figures, all references to
specific colors should be removed from the figure captions.

AUTHOR ALTERATIONS:

EARLY VIEW:

Papers accepted by Biometrics are published
electronically shortly after their acceptance at the
Early View section of the Biometrics website
of Wiley-Blackwell
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291541-0420/earlyview)
much earlier than the following printed version in the Journal. Authors
are required to return proofs to Wiley-Blackwell within 48 hours after
receiving them. For detailed information on how to cite Early View
publication, please visit the Biometrics website
http://www.biometrics.tibs.org.